A Dream Worth Keeping - ON HIATUS
by orangeyhairedimmortal
Summary: Max has heard stories of FernGully since he was a kid from his father, Zak, but has never seen a fairy. Embarrassed by his father's antics, it isn't until an illness overtakes Max that he finally comes in contact with some fairies... only it's in the exact same way his father did, but with Crysta's daughter, Moon. Can they help with his illness before its too late?
1. Prologue

"Then, the evil Hexxus tried to destroy FernGully with the large logger."

"No! The fairies are gonna die!"

"No, they won't be killed. They have Magi, the oldest fairy in FernGully. She had sealed Hexxus up before, but she was older now and needed help. She designated Crysta to be the new leader of the fairies after she sacrificed herself for her fellow fairies."

"Oh no!"

"But her sacrifice wasn't in vain. With Crysta wielding her new powers and using the help of her friends, she was able to stop Hexxus a second time and saved FernGully."

"Yay!" the little boy yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "Yeah, Crysta beat that stupid smoke monster!"

Zak laughed as his son pulled his sheets on his head and flapped his arms.

"Hey, Dad, is that why you love the rainforest? Cuz the fairies live there?"

Zak smiled a little and ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, Magi gave a little of herself to me as well. I owe FernGully and the fairies there a lot."

" _You_ saw fairies, Dad?"

"If you look really closely," he said, squinting his eyes like he was looking for something. "You can see them flying about in a blue or green light. Sometimes, if you're quick, you can snatch them up." He said, cupping his hands.

"Did you catch one?!"

Zak laughed. "No, silly, fairies wouldn't come to the city. They like the forest and the trees."

"Aw…"

Zak smiled and rustled his son's hair.

"One day, Max, you'll maybe get to see some."

Max smiled, his front tooth missing, and Zak got up, tucking Max in.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna see FernGully."

Zak turned out the light. "One day you will, buddy. Goodnight."

Max snuggled in his covers, dreaming of Crysta and Pips and Batty. _One day I'll go there and see them all._ he thought.


	2. 1: Folklore

**Sixteen Years Later**

"Max, you'll be late for work if you don't get out of there! Max? Max, can you hear me? MAX!"

Max, in fact, could not hear his dad because he was too busy underwater, swimming in the pool. He was a good swimmer and on the swim team at the college but he liked to practice at home. He was the fastest on his team, winning the school many championships. But it was the summer and he was supposed to be helping Zak at work. Max got out of the pool and began to dry off.

"MAX!"

He yelled at the sudden noise and fell back into the pool. He sputtered and pulled up his goggles, getting out and going to the intercom.

"You scared me to death, Dad. What do you want?"

"You plan on coming to work today?"

"Uh… I guess… did you need me?"

"Max."

"Alright, alright… I'll go to the stupid center."

"It's not stupid and you know you like it."

"Dad, telling people in an enthralling voice to 'look closer and you may see the fairies of FernGully' is getting really old. I mean, I'm twenty-two years old and I'm telling tourists to look for fairy folk because they're morons."

"And you're getting paid for it so shut up, get dressed, and meet me downstairs."

"Fine."

Max pulled away from the wall and shook his hair out. Dizzy from shaking his head so much, he stumbled and then began to cough. He kept coughing as he leaned on the wall and tried to catch his breath. When he was done he put his hand to his chest, rubbing it.

"What's with this cough? I got over my pneumonia a while back…"

He shook his head and started to get ready for work.

* * *

"I'm worried about him, Zak."

Zak looked at his wife, Natalie, and sipped on his energy drink.

"What are you worried about? There's nothing wrong with him."

"He's not looking well."

"He's looking fine, Nat. You're worrying over him too much. Is it the FernGully thing?"

"Just a little bit…"

"Natalie, you know how I feel."

"And I _know_ that but you're pushing it a little far with that FernGully tour and making Max do it. You know he's grown out of it and to me it seems like you're taking advantage of all the people who are coming to see the rainforest. It just seems… _cruel_."

"Nat, if I didn't feel that I was telling the truth, I wouldn't have people come out there. I know what I saw when I was young and I know what happened to me. I've always told you that I used to be a pretty cool guy until I went out there. I'm surprised you even married me."

"I like geeks." She said with a smirk as the toaster popped up and she grabbed the waffles.

"You guys should take that up in your room, not in the kitchen." Max said, coming down the stairs.

Zak smiled as Max coughed again, opening the fridge. Natalie moved her green eyes to Max as she looked at Zak, motioning. Zak shook his head in confusion and she rolled them and pointed to her chest.

"Hey, uh, Max?"

"Yeah?" he said, finally finding what he had wanted out of the fridge.

"I thought you got over your pneumonia some time ago?"

"I did. I think… I mean I've still been coughing and I had a fever the other night doesn't mean anything."

"Max, we're just worried about you. You sometimes don't prepare yourself for the rainforest and you know you can get heat stroke out there."

"Mom, I'm fine. I show people 'fairies' and tell little children that if they believe hard enough then they will see one. I'm not logging or something."

Zak made a face at that but looked at Natalie with a 'you see' look. Zak stood up and clapped his son on the back.

"Come on, bud, we're going to be late."

* * *

Max tsked as he looked at the itinerary and saw that he was supposed to dress up like one of the fairies and show the kids around today. He hated dressing up like Pips or Bips or whatever that thing's name was. He'd rather be the logger, at least he got to wear a shirt.

"Max?"

"I got the fairy again. Dad, I told you that I hated being the fairy."

"You used to love it. You said you liked the show of your muscles or something."

"That was when I was sixteen and hot girls used to come through here. Everyone around has seen the amazing FernGully and you know what? Since I've been working here I haven't _one single fairy_! So why are we telling these people that there is something out there that doesn't exist?!"

Zak sighed. "Max, like I told your mother, if I hadn't seen them for myself I wouldn't even be doing this. I would probably still be a logger or doing something else with my time. I see them, Max, and they're important to me. They helped me to see that the rainforest isn't just trees that make up a space, it's a home and they feel."

"Trees _feel_?"

"You probably will never understand. Just… put on the costume. You don't have to wear the wig."

Max looked at the costume and sighed, taking off his clothes to get into it. He hated walking around the jungle in just a little loin cloth because it chaffed but he also didn't want to show his torso... especially the large tattoo on his back.

* * *

 **FernGully**

Moon sighed, looking up at the sun on a leaf. Another day of flying around not making stuff grow. Her mother had told her that she was the same way when she was younger but it didn't help Moon in the least. All of her other friends were at least keeping flowers in bloom and she was… killing them. Or aiding them in their deaths, something like that.

"Moon?"

"Hey, Mom…"

Crysta lit next to her daughter and folded her hands in her lap.

"Twiggers told me about what happened today."

"Twiggers tells you everything." Moon said with a roll of her green eyes.

"Well, when my daughter is killing the flowers instead of helping them, it raises concerns."

"I just can't get it… I don't understand. Even *Dad* can do some sort of stability. Maybe it's because I was born on a full moon or something."

"I highly doubt that. You're a fairy not a werewolf."

"But maybe I'm defective."

"It just takes a little bit. My first time wasn't the most proudest moment of my life…"

"Mom, you shrunk a human and made it so that now he protects us."

"Well, that wasn't initially the plan, sweetie. Your father likes to elaborate on that and make us seem more powerful than we are. The human that is protecting FernGully only knows about it because I botched up the spell. I just wanted him to be able to see me but I accidentally shrunk him. But, if I hadn't our home would have been destroyed."

"Yeah but those humans make a tour of the place and no one can even see us."

"That may be true but we all decided to keep our magic to a minimum since that incident. We don't want anything else to happen."

"I think we should at least show ourselves a little…"

"That is a bad idea. Don't dwell on it."

Moon frowned as Crysta left and flew off. Moon stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, I'm not going to sit around anymore. I think more humans should know about us… I'll go see if that one can help us out…"

* * *

 **looks like moon has a bit of her father's tenacity. what will she do? and max semi-love/hates his job. he has a reason he wants to hide the tattoo and the costume is actually pips' outfit haha.**


	3. 2: Reality

Moon flew along the path toward the **FernGully Rainforest Survival Foundation Center** and flew up to the window. She lit on the outside of the window and looked inside. There were fairy things everywhere, books, movies, plushies… and her father? Moon made a face and flew up where the door was opening and into the center. She made a beeline toward her father when it was suddenly dark and she gasped, stopping in her tracks. A small crack suddenly opened and a huge brown eye looking at her.

"Please don't eat me!" she yelled, holding her hands above her head.

"I'm not going to eat you." A hushed voice said. "I'm going to remove my hand but don't fly away."

The upper part of the cage moved and Moon stood up, looking up at the thing that caught her. She gasped and jumped up, her wings causing her to hover.

"You're a human!" she said, staring at the man.

Zak made a face. "Crysta? I thought we went through this."

"Crysta is my mom… I'm Moon."

Zak smiled and moved his hand so that Moon was sitting on it again and made her come closer to his face.

"I'm Zak."

"You're the human that saved FernGully!" She said, delighted. "Oh, wait, until I tell my mother- Wait… I can't do that or she'll know I've been here…"

Zak laughed a little and went to the counter, setting her on it.

"What brought you here, Moon?"

"Well, Mother said we shouldn't reveal ourselves to the humans because of what happened last time with Hexxus and all but then I saw my father in here…" She pointed over at the door. "And I got confused. I was going to ask him how he became large when I was caught by you."

Zak looked over at Max, who was stocking some postcards, debating if he wanted to tell him about Moon when it hit him that Moon had mistaken Max for her father.

"Wait, so Pips is your father?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe Crysta got with that guy…" Zak mumbled under his breath. "Anyway, that's not your father, that's my son, Max, dressed up like him. I use it for the tour of FernGully."

"He is your son?" Moon asked, turning her head at Max's back. "He is so big."

"Well, he's human…"

"Can he see us too?"

"I'm not quite sure. I doubt your mother would enjoy you being here when she said not to be. You'd better run along back to FernGully before she finds out about you."

"I guess you're right… I'm delighted to meet you, sir!" she said, holding out her hand to him.

Zak had to laugh and extended his finger to her.

"The pleasure is all mine, Moon."

Moon took flight just as Max looked back at his father and saw a blue light flying away. Max made a face and looked at Zak.

"Was that a fairy?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't 'hmm' me. Were you talking to a fairy?"

"Yeah…"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Max yelled, dropping the box on the floor. "I've been waiting seventeen years for that!"

Zak made a face. "I honestly didn't think you'd be interested in it anymore. Considering…"

"It's different if the real thing occurs!"

Max began to cough uncontrollably and Zak frowned, walking over to him.

"Max?"

"I'm fine, really…" he choked, hitting his chest. "It's a remnant of the pneumonia or something."

Even though Natalie was worried, Zak was beginning to believe his wife. The door opened and some tourists came in and Zak smiled at them, pushing his son's health concern for another time even though he didn't want to. He had a business to run.

* * *

Moon flew all the way back to FernGully when she rammed into Batty and fell into a spider web.

"Batty!" she yelled angrily.

"My bad." He said, his electrode sparking as he flew down to help Moon out of the spider web. "Where have you been? I was sent by your father to come and procure you."

"I can't tell you or you'll tell my mother." Moon said, pulling free of the web.

Batty made face and flew after her. Moon flew to her friend Leafo's place and knocked on his leaf door.

"Leafo! Leafo, I have some awesome news!"

Batty, unbeknownst to Moon, was perched right under the branch of Leafo's house. Leafo came out and Moon smiled.

"Guess. What?" she said, making motions with her hands. Leafo stared at her in anticipation. "I. Saw. The. Human. That. Protects. Us. Up. Close!"

Leafo frowned a little. **Isn't. That. Against. The. Rules?** he asked.

"I. Didn't. Mean. To. He. Caught. Me." She said, demonstrating with her own hands.

Leafo made a face at her that didn't need interpretation. Leafo was almost deaf in both ears due to a tumble in a roaring waterfall when he was younger. The thunderous roar of the falls caused him to lose a lot of his hearing. He could hear alright if people said their words one word at a time and did the sign for it. He would also read lips, which is why he preferred one word at a time.

"Why. Are. You. Giving. Me. That. Face?" she asked.

 **Your. Mother. Will. Kill. You.**

"Only. If. She. Finds. Out." She said with a smirk.

Leafo pointed downward and Moon looked at him.

"What?"

He made locked his thumbs together and flapped his fingers out wide from each other. Moon went even more pale as she crawled to the end of the branch and looked below it. Batty smiled at her.

"Oh, hello. Fancy seeing you up there."

"Batty…" she groaned, going to the ground. "Man… Now that you know, you'll tell my mom."

"I can… I may…"

Moon frowned and flew under the branch and kicked Batty's electrode, making the bat cringe and then his eyes went blank for a second.

"Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, there is a blue light special on fishing poles today. Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, there is a blue light special on fishing poles today."

Moon wiped her hands and looked at Leafo.

"See? Problem. Solved."

Leafo shook his head and pointed behind her. She looked and saw her father staring at her. Moon gulped as Pips made a face at her, crossing his arms.

"Dad…"

"What have I told you about messing with Batty's antenna? It'll take us hours to get him back on track again. And what has you paranoid enough to mess with it so he'll forget?"

"Uh…" Moon looked behind her. "Leafo, help me out."

Leafo shook his head. **On. Your. Own.** He signed and went back into his house.

Moon frowned. "What a friend…"

"Moon."

Moon sighed and bowed her head.

"Coming, Dad."

* * *

 **FernGully Foundation Center**

Max picked up the stuff that fell out of the box he had dropped, grumbling to himself about his dad holding out on him when the door opened again. He turned to say hello but stopped in his tracks. It was people from school and not just any people. It was Pepper Highgrove, her friend, her boyfriend and her boyfriend's friend. Max had a crush on Pepper but she was way out of his league. Pepper's boyfriend, Jason, noticed Max right away and an awful grin spread across his face.

"Well, if it isn't the fairy boy. What's up, Matt?"

"Max."

"Whatever. The girls wanted to see a bit of fairy magic, something to pass the time while we wait for a movie. You gonna show us around, Mike?"

"Max…" he corrected again. He looked to see if his dad was there but Zak was talking to some other people. "Uh, yeah, I can take you in to see FernGully. Um, if you grab a brochure we can get started."

He stiffly pointed out the brochures behind them and they each took a brochure. Pepper opened hers and began to read it almost immediately and Max smiled a little but Jason put his arm around him and pulled him in a grip towards him.

"Come on, Mark, let's go see some fairies."

* * *

As they walked out toward FernGully, Max's face blushed about six shades of red. He didn't say anything for a big until Pepper's friend, Miranda, said, "Isn't there supposed a tour? Aren't you supposed to, you know?, tour us around?"

"R-Right… uh… This is the entrance to FernGully, the home of the fairies of the forest. They help the forest grow and also keep the air clean by locking away nasty toxins such as smoke, acid rain, and other things. If you squint your eyes, you may be able to see the fairies glide by with lights of green and blue."

"This is bullshit." Jason said. "There are no such things as fairies. At least, not the kind we're supposed to be seeing. The only fairy I see here is you, Marty."

"It's Max."

"Does it matter? Now that we have you out here alone, I think I'd like to have a little talk with you about looking at people's girlfriends."

"Jason, stop." Pepper said. "This has nothing to do with anything."

"No it does. I'm tired of you looking at Pepper like she's a piece of meat to be eaten, you feel me?" Jason said, poking Max in the chest. "I see you all the time taking passing glances at her like some sort of peeping tom."

"I'm not, really."

"Besides, like she'd fall for a squirt like you anyway!" He looked around and began to kick the trees, kicking off the mushrooms that were attached to him. "This place is stupid and for kids. I can't believe you talked me into coming here."

"Stop! Stop hurting it!" Max found himself saying.

The four of them looked at him as Jason made a face.

" _Hurting_ it? Hurting _what_?"

"The trees… they feel…"

Max was surprised he was saying this but even though he hated being here and it _was_ a little stupid, seeing Jason destroy things like that hurt him. He had a little bit of renewed confidence since his dad had seen a fairy and to see Jason hurt their home…

Jason turned to him and grabbed him.

"Feel, huh? You wanna know what I feel? I feel your _face_ against my _fist_."

He punched Max in the face and then punched him in the stomach. The stomach punch left him breathless and he began to cough. The coughing got worse and he finally did a big one and looked at his hand. It was covered in blood. He looked at it in horror as he looked up just as Jason kicked him in the stomach again.

"Faggot."

Max began coughing again, blood coming from his mouth as he looked at it in horror. He just couldn't believe it was happening to him. _I have TB?!_ he yelled in his brain, trying to figure out how he got it and what to tell his parents.

* * *

 **so the 'sign language' that the fairies use is like how normal people try to communicate with deaf people. they don't know sign language so they make up symbols. that's literally how the fairies are but it's one word at a time always.**

 **and i've found that bullies can sometimes just be bullies for no reason than just to be dicks. jason just doesn't like max.**

 **and oh no! he's got the tb! what's gonna happen?**


	4. 3: Expectations Awry

**FernGully**

"Did I not tell you earlier today that we shouldn't show ourselves to humans? And you deliberately went and disobeyed me?" Crysta asked, looking at her daughter with a very angry glare.

"I just wanted to see him. I didn't mean to be seen myself it's just… I thought I saw Father in there."

"Me?" Pips said, pointing. "Why would I be over there?"

"That's what I was going to ask you. I thought it was you so I went into the little shop to ask why and how you had made yourself bigger when I was caught. It was by that human who saved FernGully. He explained that it wasn't father and that it was actually his son dressed as father. Once I got the explanation, he let me go."

Crysta smiled a little.

"You saw Zak?"

"Yes, I did."

Crysta smiled again, remembering when he had visited so many years ago. Even though she was with Pips, the memories of her first love were still quite fresh in her fairy mind. Pips, knowing this, cleared his throat and Crysta looked at him. He pointed at Moon and she resumed her rant.

"Either way, you were told not to go there and you even tried to get Leafo involved."

"Leafo wasn't involved at all. I told him what happened but that's about it. That's when Father came."

"You're forbidden to go near that place, do you understand me? It's dangerous there. Even though Zak protects FernGully, there are still others who wish to damage it."

Moon frowned and then left, flying away.

Crysta made a face at her daughter, knowing she was probably disobeying as she flew. Pips walked up to her.

"Crysta…"

"I'm sure she's going to do the complete opposite of what I asked. If she's anything like me then I _know_ she will."

"Do you want me to send Batty to watch over her?"

"No…" She sighed. "I wish we could just reveal ourselves to the humans but… but last time we did that Hexxus was released and he almost killed FernGully and then Magi…"

Pips pulled Crysta into a hug, holding her close.

"Don't worry… we put him back in confinement. As long as Zak protects FernGully like he has and they don't do any of that logging stuff, then Hexxus won't be able to come back."

Crysta knew that but it was still a fear she would always have.

* * *

 **FernGully Foundation Center**

Max decided to keep his situation from his parents. He didn't need them to get into his business and as long as he didn't cough hard like he had because of the being kicked around a little, he would be alright. When they went on a day trip or something he would go to the doctor's office. _*Maybe it isn't really TB.*_ Max thought as he scrubbed the blood off of his hands in the bathroom and off of his chin. _Maybe it's just because I was already coughing and then Jason made me lose my breath… Yeah… that sounds like a good plan._ Max wiped his face and looked in the mirror. He nodded about his story and walked out of the bathroom.

As he turned around he gasped, finding Pepper standing there.

"P-Pepper… um…"

"I'm sorry about Jason, he can be a real dick sometimes."

"Um… yeah… uh…"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind giving me a personal tour? I've always wanted to come here but my parents thought it was a waste of time so we always end up going scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef or something."

"You've been to the reef?" Max asked in amazement.

"All the time. It doesn't change. It will always be fish skeletons and sharks and **Finding Nemo** -ish. I was surprised Jason even wanted to come here."

"Don't you have a movie to catch or something?"

Pepper looked around a little. "I um… just recently broke up."

Max lifted an eyebrow. "So… why were you here with him? Do you mean you dumped him just a moment ago?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Well, I knew he had issues with people but I thought it was something else but seeing him just beat you up like that for no reason… well… I realized what my eyes had been blind to. Anyway, I'll totally pay for the tour."

"Uh, you don't have to. I-I'll take you."

Pepper clapped happily and then looked at his outfit.

"Do you have to wear that?"

"I do but I'm going to ask if I can take it off. I don't like walking around in it; it chafes."

Pepper laughed a little as Max walked up to his father.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I change clothes and still do a tour?" he said, gesturing to Pepper with is eyes.

Zak looked over his son's shoulder and saw the pretty girl standing there and he lifted an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Come on, Dad, I've had a crush on her since forever!" he hissed.

Zak laughed. "Fine but if some kids come in you're putting the outfit back on."

"I know…"

Max changed clothes and took Pepper out to the forest.

* * *

"So I was reading in the brochure that there are fairies out here? Have you seen one?" Pepper asked, looking at him expectantly.

"No, I haven't seen one yet. My dad has though…"

"So… what's with the getup back there?"

"It's supposed to be a fairy guy that my dad met when… well…"

"When what? I'm truly interested."

Max stopped walking.

"My dad used to be a logger and he was marking the trees to tear down the rainforest when he caught a fairy in his hands. He said that she misspoke when she was trying to get him to be able to see her fully and turned him into the same size as her. He learned about how the rainforest is a living organism and the fairies need it wholly to survive. With that, he was returned to normal and lost his social life forever."

"That's quite a story."

"It's been told to me many times. I always thought it was just a story until I realized that the center was built and stuff."

"So how did your father see her if she had to make him see her?"

"He said all he saw at the time was a flash of green and went to go catch it, thinking it was a firefly or something."

"I see. So the costume is a fairy he met?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I see… That's pretty cool though. My dad is just an accountant."

"At least it's normal."

They laughed for a second when Max noticed the forest was oddly quiet. He put his hand out to stop Pepper and she looked at him.

"Max?"

"Shh… something's up…"

"What do you mean?"

"My dad always told me that when a forest gets quiet, that means that something has startled everything within it."

Max waited to hear something when he saw birds leaving the trees in droves of all kinds. Suddenly ground creatures like snakes, lizards, bugs, rabbits, etc. began to scurry past them. Pepper screamed with the snake and practically latched onto Max, who didn't mind. Then Max saw the kangaroos jumping toward them along with deer and some other bigger mammals.

"Oh god, it's a stampede. Hurry, back to the center!" he yelled, pushing her forward.

Pepper ran as fast as she could, leaving Max behind. He didn't mind because he wanted her safe but the running was making him wheeze and the stampede was getting closer. He didn't know how far out the stampede went in either direction or what was coming so he couldn't stop. That was a mistake, of course, because the more wheezing he did, the scratchier his throat got and made him cough. The cough did him in as well as the tail of a kangaroo. It smacked him and he whacked into a tree.

* * *

Moon was, of course, disobeying her mother's orders, when she saw a stampede in the forest. She frowned, following the direction of it when she saw Max laying next to a tree, out cold. She flew over to him and lit on his nose, touching his face.

"Wake up! You can't sleep now!" she said, making sure that his legs were out of the way of the stampede but frantically nudging his skin.

Of course, Max didn't wake up (since he couldn't feel her) and she put her hands over her mouth. Was he dead? She flew around in to inspect for any injuries when she found that there was a big red whelp on his face where the kangaroo tail had whacked him and a knot on his head where he must have hit the tree. Moon flew to his face and lit on his nose again.

Max woke up a little later and moaned, his head killing him and his nose itching. He rubbed his nose and Moon fell off, yelling. Max put his hand to his head and then again to cough, making Moon afraid and she flew back far enough to see him better but not be caught in his gestures.

"Ow… jeez… I wonder what spooked the animals so bad…" he mumbled, trying to stand up and cough at the same time.

Moon watched him carefully as he put his other hand to his mouth and looked into it. He made a worried expression and Moon flew over to his hand. Finding blood, Moon gasped, looking at Max.

"You need treatment!" she yelled, although he couldn't hear her.

Max wiped his blood off on his jeans and started to leave, although wobbly. Moon stamped her feet in the air and flew in front of him.

"Oh, I hope I get this correct. Bless your heart with magic light, I give the gift of-"

"A fairy?"

Moon stopped as Max tried to look at her through pain filled eyes from coughing as well as the smack in the cheek and the bump on the head… and other bruises. Max held out his hand to the glowing green dot, waiting.

"I can't see your face but I know fairy lights when I see it. Come on…"

Moon quickly flew to his finger and lit on the very edge. Max squinted and smiled.

"Awesome, a real fairy… I'm keeping you."

Moon yelled as he went to clamp his hand shut but a rack of coughs overcame him and he fell to his hands and knees. Although Moon knew he had just tried to take her, she was very concerned. The blood scared her but she had read about the type of disease that he had in a book of hers… If only she could get it to him… She sighed and cleared her throat.

"Bless your heart with magic light, I give the gift of fairy height. _Sight_! Shoot!" she yelled as he magic swirled over to Max.

She really hadn't meant to do _exactly_ what he mother had done and ironically it was the person she had shrunk's _son_. Moon had been thinking of how to get the book she read the material on about this sort of disease and the word came out. The magic worked quickly and he shrank down to her size, but he was coughing profusely now and Moon ran over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Max didn't say anything for a moment and then looked at her in confusion.

"Who are you?"

* * *

 **for the record, ferngully is in australia and kangaroos live in australia. anyway, he's not the same size as moon. can they really help him or is it just for fairies? we shall find out.**


	5. 4: Size Matters

Pepper ran back to the center and slammed the door closed. Zak looked up but frowned when he saw Pepper instead of Max.

"Were you just out there?"

"Yeah, there was a stampede. Something spooked the animals and Max told me to run." She looked behind her and frowned. "He was right behind me!"

Zak's eyes widened as he went up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Where is Max?"

"I- I don't _know_."

Zak swallowed hard and he grabbed the keys to the center.

"I'm sorry, but the center is closed now. I have to go find Max."

"Let me help. It was my fault he got caught up in it. I asked him for a personal tour."

"What's your name?"

"Pepper. I... well... I like your son."

Zak blinked for a second and then nodded.

"Fine." He locked up the center and went to the shed that was in the back. "We'll need a few things. Are you good at hiking?"

"I've never been."

"Well today is your day then."

Pepper followed Zak as they went to the shed.

* * *

"Who are you?" Max asked, looking at the girl in front of him.

She was wearing a black short tattered skirt and a halter top of the same color. Her hair was a reddish brown color and her eyes were an amazingly beautiful sapphire blue and yet seemed to sometimes show sea foam green. Max was mesmerized for a moment and then shook his head, which hurt, and he hissed.

"What the hell happened?"

"There was a stampede and you were sleeping! Are you alright? I saw blood on your hand from your mouth."

"I'm fine..." He held his head but he was very woozy. "You never told me your name."

"Oh, I'm Moon."

"Max..." he said, holding out his hand.

Moon remembered what her mother had told her about the human 'hand shake' and held out her hand as well beside him.

Max turned his head at her for a second and narrowed his eyes.

"You're... not human, are you?"

"No, I'm a fairy."

"I don't see your wings."

Moon jumped up and then her wings came out, making her hover. Max blinked rapidly in both awe and confusion.

"Wait... If you're right in front of me and I can see you then..."

"I'm _really_ sorry about this..."

Max looked up and saw that the trees were extraordinarily tall and some of the plants that had been below him before were now as high as trees.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to make you my size. It was a complete accident... although for some reason you don't look so surprised."

"Well, it happened to my dad so... It really hasn't sunk in yet, actually."

"I never meant to do the exact same thing my mother did but I almost said it right until you interrupted me the first time. I thought you could already see me."

"Oh yeah, that light. That was you?" Moon nodded. "So then if you thought I could see you then..."

"Well, you started coughing and then blood was on your hand! When you said you saw my fairy light, I knew you couldn't see _me_ so I thought that I would try to get you to see me so I could tell you about a book that we have that might be able to help you. I was thinking about how to get the book to you since you were so tall and all and I accidentally said 'height' instead of 'sight'. Again, I'm _really_ sorry."

"It's okay, I'm not mad... Can you try to change me back?"

"I would but... I think it would be best if you came with me to see Mother. I didn't like that blood and you looked like you were very sick."

"I can take care of myself." he growled, standing up finally.

He was almost two feet taller than Moon and he looked down at her.

"You're really short."

"You're very tall."

They stared at each other for a moment and Moon cleared her throat.

"Well, come on. I'll take you to FernGully! I have to stop by my friend's house before we go to see Mother though. I need to ask him to find that book where we saw the cure."

"Uh... okay then... So... How do I get around?"

Moon looked at him as he looked at her.

"That's... a really good question."

"Seriously?! If you're going to make me the same size as you at least give me a way to move around! Ugh! No wonder Dad was so pissed off the first time he got here. I would be too if I was the size of a bug but couldn't even fly like one!"

"Do... you want me to give you wings then? Are you wanting to become a fairy?"

"What? No, I never said that. I just need something to get around. Unless you're strong enough to carry me."

"*I'm* not strong enough but... maybe Leafo is... Hold on I'll be right back."

"What?! You're going to leave me here?"

Moon took off. "I'll be right back!"

Max made a face and sat down.

"Leave it to me to literally follow my father's life and get shrunk by a fairy who has no idea what the hell she's doing." He leaned against the root of the tree and sighed. "What does she know about my condition anyway? Fairies don't get sick... Oh well... I guess I'll just have to trust her for now. I hope my dad doesn't step on me since I'm sure he's going to be looking for me."

Max decided to just wait it out but crawled under the root in case Zak really did come looking for him and he didn't want to be stepped on by him.

* * *

Moon flew back to FernGully as fast as she could and landed on the branch that went to Leafo's house. She opened the door as Leafo looked up and blinked at her.

 **What. Are. You. Doing. Here?** he asked her.

"Do. You. Remember. That. Book. About. Human. Diseases. We. Found?" Leafo nodded, still looking confused. "I. Need. It."

 **Why?**

Moon looked around for a second and as Leafo stared at her and then he realized what was going on.

 **You. Went. To. The. Human. Place. Again. Didn't. You?**

"I. May. Have. Done. Something. Else…"

Leafo suddenly shot up out of his chair in realization and flew to her quickly.

 **You. Didn't!**

"I. _Accidentally_. Did."

Leafo put his face in his hands as Moon rocked on her feet a little. He looked up at her as she smiled sheepishly.

 **Why. Do. You. Need. The. Book. Then?**

"He. Was. Coughing. Up. Blood." Leafo looked concerned. "I. Wanted. Him. To. See. Me. So. I. Could. Tell. Him. But. I. Was. Thinking. About. The. Book. Too. And. Said. The. Wrong. Thing."

 **So. He's. Our. Size.**

"Yeah… That's. Also. Why. I. Need. Your. Help. Could. You. Carry. Him. Here?"

Leafo made a face at her as she grinned and he rolled his eyes, jumping up in the air to hover.

 **I. Will. Kill. You. Later.**

"I. Know. Thanks."

They both flew back to where Moon had left Max as Batty opened his own wings and flew to tell Crysta about what he had overheard.

* * *

"Max? Max, are you alright?"

Max opened his eyes a little and saw Moon's bright bluish-green ones staring at him in concern. He had fallen asleep after another harsh cough attack. He seemed to be getting then more frequent since he had shrunk. The bump on his head wasn't really helping anything either and he feared he had a concussion. He had read about them before in science and one of the signs was a headache that lasted for more than a few minutes, dizziness, and nausea. He had all three and wanted to pass out as quickly as possible if he could.

"I'm not feeling too good." he said truthfully.

"Leafo, come here…"

Leafo walked up and knelt next to him. He put his hand on Max's forehead and frowned.

 **We. Must. Go. Quickly.**

"Alright then. My friend Leafo is going to take you with us to FernGully. I'll tell my mother and we'll see what we can do, alright?"

"Okay… I think I'm just… gonna go to sleep now…"

Leafo lifted Max up as he leaned his head on him and finally passed out.

* * *

 **oh no! will max be alright? will zak and pepper be able to find him?**


	6. 5: What You Believe In

As Moon and Leafo flew back to FernGully, Zak and Pepper searched through the brush, calling out Max's name. Zak feared the worst for his son and it didn't just account for him being found dead.

"Mr. Young, I have a question."

"What is it?" he said, looking in the depths of some dense underbrush.

"Are there really fairies in this forest?"

Zak looked back at her. "Why do you ask?"

"Well… I mean, if the story that you tell is true and you got shrunken down to their size, then maybe something like that happened to Max as well."

Zak made a face. "I highly doubt that. I don't think Crysta would be that stupid to blubber up her spell again."

"I don't know who that is…"

"She's- Why do you care? It's not exactly true."

Pepper smiled at him. "I can tell it's very true to you, Mr. Young. You wouldn't have funded this foundation if you didn't believe in what happened to you and you wouldn't proudly have someone dress up as a fairy if you didn't believe in them." Pepper looked around. "FernGully is a magical place. I can understand how fairies could exist…"

Zak tried not to talk actual fairy talk with people outside of his wife but this girl seemed to be not only genuinely interested in his son, but also to genuinely care and wanted to know. Zak felt he could trust her.

"Crysta was the name of the fairy that I met when I was younger. She was trying to get me to see her when she misstated her spell and I ended up the same size as her. We helped defeat Hexxus, the toxic monster that was locked up in a rotting, decaying tree that was far off in the depths of the forest. I had somehow released him… I think it was the chemicals in the spray paint that I had marked on the tree… He started to devour the forest but we saved it and killed Hexxus once more. After that, Crysta was able to do her spell correctly and I decided the best thanks that I could do for her and for the other fairies was the keep the folklore alive and protect FernGully as best as I could."

"So you really believe in fairies?"

"Yes, I do. Only the ones here though. I don't know anything about any things in other places and even though other cultures have fairies, their fairies are different. These are the only ones I care about. I _know_ these are real and I will protect them."

Pepper smiled. "Do you think, if by chance something like what happened to you happened to Max, that he would try to find the fairies first or be led to their main house or something?"

Zak thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I met with Crysta's daughter, Moon or something. If she was nearby then something like what happened with me could have happened with him… The problem is that FernGully is not a place I can just find… A fairy has to kind of take you there."

"Finding a fairy would be a start, though, right?"

"I guess so…"

They started moving the underbrush around, trying to find blue or green lights.

Leafo dropped Max onto the ground and Max coughed, holding his chest. He moaned and opened his eyes. He saw Moon walking towards another woman and then someone who was dressed up like he usually was.

"Holy shit… You're real…" he mumbled, pulling himself up to stand.

"I see you're back again, Zak?"

"Zak's my dad, I'm Max. You must be Pip."

The man made a face. "How do you know what my name is?"

"My dad makes me dress up as you all the time at the foundation. It makes the kids happy or something."

"Odd choice to dress up as…"

"Well, since he didn't have a little girl, he had to find someone to represent the fairies to the humans." He coughed. "Do you have any water?"

"Sure…"

Pip went to get Max some water as Crysta and Moon were having a heated discussion about him.

* * *

"I can't believe you did exactly what I told you not to do. Now look what's happened? You've caused another human to find FernGully."

"It's Zak's son though, Mom. You know he would never do anything to hurt us. You've told us all the tale of Zak Young and how he helped you defeat Hexxus. I _had_ to save him anyway. Besides, I wasn't trying to do anything to him. I just wanted him to see me because he was coughing blood."

"Blood? What do you mean?"

"There was a stampede in the forest and I think he must have gotten hit by something and was passed out. I wanted him to see me so that I could tell him about that book that we have that has all the treatments in it. But as I was about to say the words, he acted like he saw me and so I stopped. Then he started coughing harshly and I was so panicked that I flubbed up…"

Crysta looked over at Max, who was sitting on a branch drinking some water out of an acorn cap, his face slightly flushed but otherwise pale.

"He does look a bit out of sorts…"

"And now that he is our size, maybe our treatments will work on him better."

"I highly doubt that… and we can't just keep him, Moon. Zak would kill us and what use is he to us? He can't fly, I'm sure he can't hunt, and he doesn't have magic. There's nothing he can give us that would promote us to keep him."

Moon crossed her arms and turned away from her mother.

"Moon… do you like him?"

"Of course not, Mother. I just met him."

"I had only met Zak for a short while and I knew that I loved him." She said softly, smiling at the memory.

Moon looked at her. "What about Dad?"

"I love your father, _always_ , but Zak Young will always be my first love… he was one bodacious babe…"

Moon made a face. "Stop it."

Crysta smiled. "Either way, he can't stay here. You'll have to turn him back soon."

"Can't we find a treatment first? It would be a waste to have him near us and yet not be able to do anything for him."

Crysta sighed. "I guess…"

Moon clapped and flew over to Max.

* * *

"So your father makes you dress up like me and take people on tours of the rainforest? That's messed up." Pip said, sitting next to Max.

"It was fun when I was younger but after a while it gets a little odd."

"Why me, though?"

"You're the only one he remembered, besides Crysta, and I couldn't very well dress up as her."

"I guess…"

"I think he also wanted the experience to seem as real as possible and without details from his own encounter, I guess it just didn't seem real."

"You humans are an odd bunch. Until Zak Young came, we thought that you lot were just a myth."

Max turned his head. " _Us_ a myth?"

"Yeah. There hadn't been a human seen in FernGully for centuries until then. Then we learned about the way you people treat the forest and all of nature… you really don't care about the environment at all."

Max shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it. Humans don't all have one person they can speak with and get good solutions to problems. There are many countries and many rulers… little people who care about the environment don't make an impact on those who control the money and the expenses. If they want to kill some trees, they'll kill some trees."

"But wouldn't that destroy the homes of many animals?" Moon asked, having heard some of the conversation.

"People don't care about the animals."

The whole room gasped as Crysta turned to them to calm them down.

"Do you not care about the animals, Max Young?" she asked.

"I'm not saying that I don't, I'm saying people in general." He stood up and walked over to Crysta, who was also quite short comparatively. "You're lucky that my dad believes in you all and strives to keep this rainforest under protection, but one day someone who has a lot of power and influence will come and they will be able to overthrow my dad or our family. When they do, even if you turned every person into the size of a fairy and showed them the wonders of the forest, they are greedy sons of bitches. They only want to make a profit and if at a fairy's expense, then so be it. They don't care about animals or folklore, just _money_."

"Then what do they do with the animals and the trees?" Moon asked.

"Sometimes they move the animals or they keep them in zoos for people to look at. The trees get turned into fuel or paper or something."

The room looked crestfallen and Max cleared his throat, trying not to cough again.

"Look, I didn't mean to bring you guys down. As long as my dad lives and has the money to keep the foundation up and going, he will fight tooth and nail to make sure this place is safe. You have my word on that."

"And you, Max Young?" Crysta asked. "What about you?"

Max smiled a little. "Well, now that I know my job _isn't_ for nothing, I will make a better effort to help my dad."

Moon beamed and Pip put his hand on his shoulder.

"Well kid, welcome to FernGully."

* * *

 **as we humans suuuuuck!**


End file.
